Aftermarket alarm problem

David Neibert

SCCoA Admin
About 6 years ago my wife had a Viper alarm system installed on my 91. I don't usually use the alarm because the car is garaged and the battery tends to drain a little quicker with the alarm on. Normally I'll use the switch on the door to lock the car..and then use the remote fob to open the door locks. Since I manually lock the doors, the 1st press on the key fob relocks the doors and arms the alarm, the 2nd press unlocks the doors and dissarms the alarm.

Anyhoo...after work yesterday afternoon, I walk up to the car and press the remote and it chirps and arms the system...then nothing happens when I push it the 2nd time to unlock the doors. I try pressing the button several times, but the doors don't unlock.

As expected as soon as I unlock the door using a key and open it, the alarm goes off and the lights starting blinking on and off. I start the motor and still the alarm continues. Shut the motor off and still it continues.....after about 5 minutes of this crap in the parking lot, I decide to cut the speaker wire. I go back into work and find a pocket knife and when I come back out the car is silent and no lights are flashing...I open the door and it starts all over again :mad:

I cup my hand around the fob to see if the little green indicator light comes on when I press the button and yes it's coming on...never really looked at it before so I don't know if it's faint or not. As I'm pressing the button the alarm suddenly stops...humm. Get back into the car and close the door and the friggen thing starts up again.

It was at that point I opened the hood and cut the speaker wire. I was half expecting the ignition to go dead when I cut the wire, but luckily it didn't. I drove the car home with headlights on and other than hearing a clicking noise coming from beneath the dash and having dimmer than normal instrument lighting, everything was fine on the trip home.

Could this just be a case of needing new batteries in the key fob, or do I have bigger problems ? BTW, they did such a good job installing the alarm system, I don't even know where the control module/recevier is located.

David
 
st louis, we have an issue...

Well at least I didn't use that other saying. David, you should head over to the local installer and get it looked at. This does not sound like a low battery issue. That would be more like it would not respond to the fob... This is something that I would get done soon as there might be other things going on with the alarm and we sure don't want to see a short take your car away...Good luck and get it fixed so we can race.....Rich
 
Rich,

Other than the 1st time I pressed it walking towards the car (which armed it), it's not responding to the fob. The alarm suddenly stopping while I was pressing the buttons was a coincidence.

David
 
Sounds like a low battery, maybe enough juice for the small light but not enough to send the signal to the car. Most alarms will have a very small toggle switch to over ride the system usually in the glove box or under the dash somewhere.

I had a problem with mine with a remote start, the car would just start up whenever it wanted. Pretty scary because it was a 5 speed! Luckily I always have the habit to leave it in neutral. I finally just took the whole sytem back out again...
 
:eek: My alarm is of the .45 caliber variety, like american express - never leave home without it. :D

Nice. The alarm on my 90 SC is the biggest POS I removed the speaker and the only time it bugs me is if I pull the battery, and hook it back up it triggers the 4-ways. I then have to find the damn remote (which I leave in the car so I don't lose it) and then get it to disarm. It can do the doors and trunk but I hate this thing, it's a Hellfire brand, never heard of it. Can't find the brain to remove it completely. I have a viper in my 92 that worked great until the thing started going haywire and I pulled the fuse on the power cable to the brain.

Oh well, hopefully a fresh battery gets it working again, then just get a crimp on butt connector and hook up the siren again.
 
Well...If it is not unlocking the doors, the batt is going dead OR there is a signal problem with the module of the alarm (getting old). If you get in a situation like that again... you can thump it pretty good, make sure it turns off, and then get in and turn the key to run (not start) and flip the valet switch, and then turn the key off and it has just deactivated the alarm. I KNOW it was beyond that point as you were already driving it with the alarm on, but what about next time:eek:. Oh...and my Viper, will not allow the car to start with the alarm activated so maybe you have a relay going bad.

Chris
 
Dave. the other day my alarm bugged out on me and wouldnt open my doors or shut off the alarm......it had worked 5 mins earlier.. i was getting a faint light on my keypad.. i took cover off and rolled battery around and it has worked since... I'd change the battery on it and see if that fixes it.
 
has that dying battery sound ....and the fob needs to be re programed to the alarm ..since there is so many options to what the buttons can do on the fob ...I see this alot at work ..when they send me to start wrecks ( I work at a bone yard] now you maybe be able to disable the system ..by turning the key on and off 3 times real quickly .... replace battery in fob and go though the reprogramming of the fob buttons...dave
 
Yeah, I'd say the fob needs a battery. It probably used up it's last ghost when you pushed the button the first time, then it lost it's setup for your brain, so it quit working all together even with faint power.

The key to a good alarm install, is a quality installation. too many places just hack and splice in things. Ideally you would do it yourself, but decent alarms almost always are not setup for the do it yourself type. that 12volt website can help out though.
 
Replaced the battery in the key fob and it's working fine now :) If this thing has a valet/disarm switch I don't know where it is. Thanks for all the suggestions.

David
 
Replaced the battery in the key fob and it's working fine now :) If this thing has a valet/disarm switch I don't know where it is. Thanks for all the suggestions.

David

USUALLY, it is near your kick panel where it can be mounted to the metal on the bottom side.

Chris
 
USUALLY, it is near your kick panel where it can be mounted to the metal on the bottom side.

Chris

The one for my Viper alarm is in my center console near the top of the front wall. You open the lid, hold the button down and then cycle the ignition. There's not really a set location or else every thief would be able to bypass your alarm in a matter of seconds.
 
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